


Slowly Falling

by StoryTellerNamedNerys



Category: Henry Mills - Fandom, Once Upon a Time (TV), drizella - Fandom, henry/drizella, henry/ivy, ivy belfrey - Fandom
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-05
Updated: 2018-07-05
Packaged: 2019-06-01 18:53:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,959
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15149636
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StoryTellerNamedNerys/pseuds/StoryTellerNamedNerys
Summary: (Set as follow on to 7x14 scene)“Drizella wait!”When Henry calls Ivy by her real name Ivy panics, is her curse breaking?After talking to Weaver and Roni they decide that the true loves kiss to break this curse must be changing from Henry and Jacinda to Henry and Ivy.With time against them, will they be able to find a cure for Henry before he falls in love with and kisses Ivy? Or will it be as easy and simple as what Weaver found?





	Slowly Falling

Monday Night

“Wait Wait Wait,” Henry exclaims getting up to follow Ivy across the room and towards the door. She’d just said that he’s at the top of her list of people she needs to apologise to, but as far as he’s aware she hasn’t done anything to him that she needs to apologise for. “Ivy, what are you talking about? Why are you sorry?” She finally stops just as she reaches the door and turns towards him. 

“I just wish I had met you before I became, me.” The sadness is clear on her face, she isn’t trying to hide her vulnerability as she normally does, but she’s always been different with Henry, always letting him in a bit more than others. “Maybe I would have made better choices and things could have been different,” she takes a small pause, a small inhale of breath, “For all of us.”

Henry is listening, but he’s only hearing the words, they mean nothing to him. He doesn’t understand what she’s talking about. None of this makes sense to him. He just wants to understand her, why she’s upset, why she’s leaving, why she’s saying all this to him. 

She walks over to him, his heart rate increasing as she rests her hand on his face, and then kisses him on his other cheek. After pulling away she looks at him, sadness in her eyes, and she gently rubs her thumb, just once, on his cheek before removing it. “Goodbye Henry.”

Just as she is walking out the door Henry shouts after her, “Drizella wait!” She pauses just before closing the door. 

Slowly, she turns back around and steps back into the flat, closing the door behind her. She turns to Henry, staying near the door, a few feet away from him. Her face is controlled, she’s trying to hide her emotion, but her mind is full of a mixture of sadness from the previous conversation, and confusion because Henry just said her real name, but how did he know? And there’s a small hopeful part of her brain, hoping that it means something, but how did he just say her real name?

“Henry, wh-what did you just call me?”

Henry looks at her, slightly confused at her sudden change in emotion, she doesn’t look sad anymore, she looks focused. “Drizella, I think?” He shakes his head, “I don’t know why, I’ve never met anyone with that name before.” Ivy just stares at him for a minute, silence surrounding them. She doesn’t understand how that name came to him, he doesn’t know where the name came from either, or why he called Ivy it, but that isn’t his main focus right now. 

“That doesn’t matter. Why do you need to apologise to me?” 

Ivy still stares at him, just blinking, trying to think of reason that this could have just happened. “I, I have to go Henry,” she looks at him for a few more seconds. He watches her, still confused, he isn’t getting any answers. She turns and leaves the flat. This time she doesn’t turn back.

Tuesday

“Hey Roni,” Henry says taking his normal seat at the bar.

“Hey Henry,” she watches him as he looks down, seemingly distracted. “You doing okay?”

“Hm?” Henry looks up at her, he’d been a bit lost in his thoughts again, not really paying attention. 

“I asked if you were okay, you seem like you have a lot on your mind,” she walks around the bar and sits on the stool next to him. It’s been a quiet day so far, so she’s able to take time and sit with him, although even if it was busy she’d do it anyway, he’s her son. “What’s up?”

Henry lets out a sigh then turns his head to face her. “Ivy came over last night,” Roni has to stop herself from reacting badly, she hates that woman for what she’s done to her son, but he doesn’t know that. “We talked about her family, and I said how she should apologise to Anna. Then she said if she is going to start apologising to people I’m at the top of that list, but she wouldn’t tell me why. She hasn’t done anything to me she needs to apologise for. Then she got up to leave and said how she wished we’d met sooner, how maybe if we had things would be different for all of us.” 

Roni feels a bit tense listening to this, something in his voice, in his eyes as he talked about her, there was something there. She hates Ivy for what she’s done to Henry, for this whole curse. But, she’d made mistakes too, she’d cast a curse too. She’d killed people. Roni recognises that Ivy does deserve a second chance, and she seemingly regrets her actions, but she isn’t ready to forgive the young witch, or to give her that second chance. Not yet. 

“And then as she walked out the door I called her Drizella,” Roni’s head snaps right up and looks Henry directly in the eye. “I know, odd name right?” Roni automatically nods while she processes what he has said. “I don’t know where it came from, I’ve never heard the name before, and I know her name is Ivy, I don’t know what happened. I just said it without thinking.”

After a minute or two she notices he was just looking at her, waiting for a reply. “Uh, yeah,” Roni fakes a cough, giving herself a second to compose herself and carry on. “Yeah, Drizella is an odd name. Maybe your subconscious had been working on coming up with a new character name for a book?” She suggests standing up, and walking back behind the bar to grab herself a drink.

“Maybe, I guess?” He shakes his head and takes one of the two drinks Roni pours. “I don’t know. I don’t know anything about what happened last night. Not the Drizella thing, not the needing to apologise to me thing, not the wishing we’d met sooner bit.” He pauses then looks up from his drink to meet Roni’s eyes, “I don’t know what’s going on Roni.”

Roni gulps, “Neither do I.”

~~~

Ivy sits at her breakfast bar holding her hot coco. She's been moving around the apartment endlessly all day trying to think of reasons for why Henry called her by her real name. 

“Drizella wait!” 

She’s replayed the moment in her mind a thousand times, but can never figure out why it happened. Was it just dumb luck? A fluke? She sighs. She was getting nowhere, Drizella isn’t exactly a common name to just pop into his head. She knows that at some point she’s going to have to go to Roni for help, but Roni hates her and probably won’t believe her, or will just say she must have done something wrong with the curse and that everything is her fault. Well she wouldn’t be wrong Ivy thinks, letting go of her hot coco and going to get a jacket. It was time to go to Roni, maybe she’ll know. 

As Ivy opens the door she sees Roni there, arm up, as if about to knock. 

“Henry told you,” it is a statement, not a question. Ivy moves aside and opens the door more to let Roni in. 

“I’m surprised you didn’t come to me straight away,” Roni stands in the middle of the room. Not in an awkward uncomfortable way, but in a ‘this isn’t a casual conversation, I’m not sitting down and relaxing’ way. 

“Well I wanted to avoid the ‘this is all your fault’ lecture for as long as possible,” she takes her coat off and sits back at the breakfast bar, but facing Roni instead of her drink. “I thought I could figure it out on my own.”

“Well have you got any ideas?” The older woman doesn’t seem as angry at Ivy as she thought she’d be. She seems more worried and intrigued, which is understandable. If the curse breaks then Henry dies because they still don’t have a cure, and she probably hasn’t had this situation before and wants to know why.

“None. I have no idea. We just talked, and I kissed him on the cheek and walked away then he said it.” 

“I called Weaver, he’s on his way over. If anyone knows why this happened and what it means it’s him.” As she says it there’s a knock at the door.

Ivy just shouts “Come in!” and Weaver enters the apartment. 

“Henry called you by your real name?” Weaver questions after closing the door. Roni and Ivy both nod, “Neither of you know why?” They shake their heads. “Well I haven’t got a clue.”

They all sigh, Roni admitting defeat and taking a seat on the couch, Weaver sitting by her. “Well what are we meant to do?” Ivy asks getting up. She’s restless, if the curse breaks and Henry dies she’ll never forgive herself. She should have stuck with Regina being her mentor then they would never have been in this mess in the first place. Henry will never forgive her. “Do we pretend it didn’t happen and carry on? But if the curse is starting to break for some reason then Henry could die-”

“No thanks to you,” Roni interrupts.

Ivy sighs, “I’m sorry, I regret this whole thing. I’ve been trying to find a cure but I have no idea what it could be.” Roni can tell Ivy means it when she apologises, but that doesn’t make her instantly forgiven.

“Did you kiss him last night?” Weaver asks.

“On the cheek yes,” Ivy looks to Weaver and can tell he’s thinking, “If you’re thinking about true loves kiss then that wasn’t it. Besides I’ve kissed him before and nothing happened. The true love kiss is Henry and Jacinda.” There was a slight bitterness to her tone, it was picked up on by all three of them.

“Or we thought it was. If Henry is starting to fall for someone else maybe it can change.”

“Is that possible?”

“It could be.”

“So you’re saying Henry may be falling in love with me and that’s why he said my real name?” Ivy asks, sitting back down on her stool, a bit shocked. Weaver must be wrong. It isn’t possible. There is no way Henry Mills was falling for her. Not a chance. 

“I’m saying it’s a possibility,” Roni and Weaver look to each other, while Ivy focuses on her hands in her lap. “We just assumed that Henry and Jacinda were true loves kiss, just like you assumed Snow and Charming were in your curse.”

“If Henry really is falling in love with Ivy it makes sense that the curse is only breaking in small bits and then going back to normal. He isn’t in love yet, but he’s falling.” Weaver nods, it’s the only thing it could be, curses don’t just stop working. Roni stands up, “We need to find a cure, now. If Henry falls in love with you and you kiss-,” she says looking to Ivy.

“Then Henry dies,” Ivy finishes then looks up to them both. “Any ideas for a cure?”

“I may have something,” Weaver states, sitting back down, on the edge of the couch.

“You do?” Roni asks, turning to him. She doesn’t sit down, she’s too on edge. She could have her Henry back.

“I was looking through Tilly’s things, she had my chipped cup and I thought she might have other things of use. And I found this,” he pulls out a small bottle containing a dark blue liquid. “I think this is the cure.”

“It was just there?” Roni asks.

“Hidden, but yes.” The women look to him, slightly doubtful, “Curses work in mysterious ways, maybe it was just hidden there because he’s going to wake up soon and we need to save him.”

“But we won’t know if it works until we wake him up and use it,” Roni sighs, it’s a big risk.

“It’ll work,” Ivy says standing up.

“How do you know?” Roni asks.

“Because Henry is the true believer, if a curse is going to give an easy way to save someone it would be for Henry.” 

Weaver nods, “It would make sense.”

“It isn’t as if he is going to fall in love with me over night, we still have time to find other ways incase this doesn’t work.”

“Okay. Then that’s our plan,” Roni agrees. “But you need to always have that bottle on you incase.”

“I will,” Weaver hands Ivy the bottle, she rolls it between her fingers. Henry is falling for her? But if they kiss and he’s in love with her then the curse will break and this little bottle is the only chance she has at saving him. “Maybe I should just avoid him, he can’t fall in love with me if he never seems me. Then we’ll have time to figure out if this works,” She looks towards Roni and Weaver, eyes pleading with them.

Roni steps to infront of Ivy and gently wraps her hands around the younger womans, “It’ll work Ivy.” The younger woman looks up from their hands, “He’s already falling for you, avoiding him will just hurt him. This will work.” Tears form in Ivy's eyes, she doesn’t know what to do with herself. “Okay?” Roni asks in a caring voice.

“Okay,” Ivy’s voice barely above a whisper. 

~~~

“Henry, hi,” Ivy says sitting at the table in Ronis with him.

He looks up and meets her eyes and smiles widely, “Ivy, hey!” 

The happiness is so clear in his voice as Roni hears it while clearing the table beside them. It isn’t as if this was a big surprise to her, she’d seen how they were to each other here, how Henry was when he spoke about her. Even before the curse, when she was mentoring Drizella she often caught herself thinking that her and Henry would make a good couple, but he was with Cinderella, so it could never happen. 

There’s no doubt in Roni’s mind that Henry will forgive Drizella, maybe not straight away, but he will. He’d forgiven her after all, and okay she had never truly endangered his life, she loved him, but she endangered everyone else around him, his whole family. The Evil Queen was evil, but he still forgave her, still saw that glimmer of someone good. Roni may not be ready to completely forgive Drizella, but she will, once she has her son back and knows that he’s okay. 

Ivy gives him a big smile, “Hey, sorry about last night, I was being weird.”

Henry shakes his head, “I should be the one apologising, I called you Drizella.” He lightly shakes his head, “I still can’t figure out why.” She can tell he’s thinking, through his eyes she can see him trying to figure it out, the name familiar but not quite being able to place it, as if his memory had been wiped - which it kind of had. 

“New character for a book maybe? You’ll have to make her a great one given you called me her.”

“Roni said the same thing,” he smiles at her, a charming smile, but that questioning look still in his eyes.

“What, that I was great?” She questions, making Roni lightly scoff next to them, and a small laugh escaping both their lips. 

Henry turns to Roni, and Roni realising her still cleaning the table may be getting suspicious she smiles, “I’ll get you two drinks, the usual?” They nod and she walks away, still trying to listen as much as she can. 

“Well if I were to base a character on you she’d have to be pretty badass,” Henry smiles widely at Ivy, who returns it as she replies.

“Pretty badass?” She smirks, “Well you wouldn’t have any problem writing that.” Henry raises his eyebrows, she laughs slightly and rolls her eyes, “Yes, OK, I read your book!” He smiles and lets out a single laugh. She had read it, just after the curse hit, and she saw the book in a store, she wasn’t really sure why she picked it up, it was just a book. But it was a book by Henry Mills, The Author, and she wanted to know what happened to them all. So she picked it up, and read it in a day. “Emma, Regina, Snow, all of the women really, they were badass. You wrote strong women Henry, not damsels in distress like it most fairy tales. So thank you.”

Henry nods and gives a small smile. After a couple of seconds of silence he speaks up again, “So you did know I sold it and it wasn’t self published!” They both laugh as she nods. 

Roni watches on from the bar as she pours their drinks. Henry smiling like that, well that was a sight she’d missed. She can almost visibly see him falling in love with her. She walks back over to their table as they’re laughing at something, the sound of his laugh makes her so happy. The sound of Ivy’s laugh makes her slightly happy too, Roni had had her share of mother problems that sent her down a bad path. So to see Ivy laughing and being happy, even for just a short time, it was nice. “Here you go you two,” she smiles at them both. “Drink up though, I’m closing up early tonight, got some things I need to do,” she gives Ivy a knowing look, the woman responds with a slight nod. 

Henry, completely oblivious to the exchange, smiles before replying, “Thanks Roni, we’ll be out in a minute.” Roni nods and walks away, while the others in the bar begin to leave. 

“Well let's drink up Henry, we got places to be!” She downs her drink in one go and places the glass back on the table, and nods to Henry to do the same. 

“Places to be?” He asks lifting the glass to his lips. 

“Well not really, but Roni may not kill you if we stay longer but she will certainly kill me.” Henry laughs before downing his drink, his nose scrunching up a bit after finishing it as he puts the glass on the table. “You’d think you would be use to the good stuff by now,” Ivy smirks as they move from their table, Henry nodding to Roni as they go. 

“Honestly, I only have that when I’m with you.” Ivy looks to the floor with a smile forming on her lips, blushing a little bit. Henry notices and doesn’t mention it, but it does cause him to smile too. 

“Well Henry Mills, the night is young, where do you feel like going?” She gives him a warm smile as they walk away from the bar.

He grins back, “Actually, I have a badass character to write.”

They stop walking and turn to each other, a smile on both their faces. “Got a story for her already? That was quick for someone who has had writers block for a while.”

Henry takes a little, small but noticeable, step towards her. “I think I do, like you said, I’m good at writing badass characters, and I think this one will be a stand out.” 

“Sounding a little bit over confident there Henry. I’ll have to be careful, I don’t want to make you too egotistical.” She takes a step closer to him, now standing right in front of each other, able to feel each other’s breath. Both their heart rates pick up as they look at each other, both wanting more, both being a little scared to close the gap. 

“Could I - uh - Could I take you for lunch tomorrow?” Henry asks, not sounding nervous. He’s confident, he feels confident that there’s something between them, that she’ll say yes. He’s never felt confident like this before, maybe she brings it out in him. Or maybe it’s the drink. 

“Henry,” Ivy beams, excitement clear on her face and in her voice, she tries to hide it but Henry sees it, “Are you asking me out on a lunch date?” The excitement he sees in her makes him more excited himself. 

She’s adorable when she’s like this, he thinks before confirming. He grins wider and lets out a slight laugh of disbelief, “I am.” Both their eyes glisten as they watch each other, oblivious to the world around them, meaning they don’t notice Jacinda watching them from down the street. 

“In that case,” Ivy tilts her head ever so slightly, “Yes Henry, I’d love to have lunch with you.” They both just smile at each other, looking on each other with happiness. “I’ll come to yours for twelve- thirty?” 

“No, I’ll pick you up from yours at twelve-thirty.” 

Ivy laughs, “Henry it’s twenty-eighteen,” she smiles sweetly, “You don’t have to pick the woman up from her house any more.”

The boy shakes his head and laughs slightly, “I know, but it’s our first date and I want it to be special.” Ivy lets out a quiet, happy sigh, of disbelief, and nods.

“Okay, I’ll see you tomorrow Henry.”

“I’ll see you tomorrow Ivy,” he nods. 

For a few moments they stand in silence looking at each other, both wanting to see if anything else will happen, if either of them will initiate it. 

Then Henry laughs and steps away, “Goodnight Ivy.” He starts to walk away. 

“Goodnight Henry,” Ivy smiles before turning around to walk back home. She doesn’t know if Henry is falling in love with her, but she is falling in love with him. 

As she starts to walk she notices Jacinda, Ivy takes a deep breath, unsure of what Jacinda saw, or if she should say anything. 

“You and Henry seem close, it’s nice.” 

“Jacinda, I-” 

“Ivy, it’s okay. Me and Henry, we - we’re friends, that’s all we’re going to be.” She pauses and smiles while looking at her sister, “It’s nice to see you happy Ivy, you deserve it.” 

She was saying everything Ivy wanted to hear, but she isn’t happy. She doesn’t want to hurt her sister. “Thank you Jacinda, that means a lot. But please talk to Henry, you can still catch up to him. Just,” she lets out a small sigh, “If there’s any chance of anything happening between you, if you feel anything for him, for each other, you deserve a chance to see what happens. Please go talk to him.” To her surprise Jacinda hugs her, and after a moment of hesitation she hugs back. “Go,” she whispers in her sisters ear. Jacinda nods, lets go, and lightly jogs down the street after Henry. 

Tears form in Ivys eyes, she tries to blink them away but one escapes. “This is ridiculous,” she says to herself as she wipes it away. She takes one last look at Jacinda whos turning a corner, and then continues her walk home. I did the right thing, they deserve a chance she thinks to herself as she walks home, “I’m doing the right thing,” she whispers.

“Henry! Henry wait!” Jacinda shouts as he’s in her eyeline, just ahead of her. 

He turns around, “Jacinda? What are you doing here?”

Jacina hadn’t thought about what she was going to say when she got to him, she was just focusing on getting to him. “I -uh- I-”

“Jacinda, are you okay?” He asks, slight worry audible in his voice. 

“Yeah, Henry I’m fine,” she smiles at him. “I saw you with Ivy.”

“Jacinda, I’m-”

“No Henry, you don’t need to apologise. I just spoke with Ivy, she told me to come talk to you because if there was any chance of anything happening between us we deserve a chance.”

Henry gives her a confused look, not understanding where she was going with this. “Honestly, I wasn’t sure of you and Ivy, but after what she just said,” she pauses, trying to figure out what she wants to say. “She's changed Henry, and I think you two are good for each other.” Henry gives a small smile. 

“I do like you Henry,” he starts as if to reply but she raises her hand. “I like you, you’re part of my family now. Lucy, she loves you.”

“Nothing will change with us or me and Lucy, Jacinda. This thing with Ivy, I don’t know where it will go, I hope it’ll be great, but whatever happens between me and her, that won’t affect you and me or Lucy.”

“That's what I’m trying to say Henry,” she smiles, “me and you don’t need to be together for us to be a family.” Henry smiles and nods, understanding. “I need to get back to Lucy,” she turns to the road, getting ready to cross, as Henry turns to carry on his walk home. “Oh and Henry?”

He turns back to her, “Yeah?”

“Treat her right. We may not be close, but she’s still my sister. If you hurt her I will have to hurt you.” They both smile at each other, before nodding and turning away. Both going their separate ways, both happy.

Wednesday

Ivy walks back and forth her apartment, her heels clicking against the floor. She sighs and checks her watch, twelve - twenty-nine. “Please show up,” she whispers to herself, “Please show up,” she repeats. 

There’s a knock at her door. 

She checks her watch again, “Twelve- thirty,” she whispers to herself. Letting out a deep breath she walks over to her door, placing her hand on the handle she briefly closes her eyes tight and steadies her breathing. “Okay,” she says under her breath then opens the door with a smile. “Right on time Mills,” she smiles at him, widening the door to let him in, “I just have to grab my purse.”

“Hey,” he smiles even though her back is now turned to him as she grabs her purse. “So, I saw Jacinda last night,” he notices Ivy freeze for a second before regaining herself and turning back to him. Just as she goes to reply he stops her, “She told me that you told her to come after me,” taking a deep breath Ivy looks to the floor, ready to put her bag back down and order in lunch for one. 

“Ivy,” he steps closer, “What you did was sweet, thank you.” He pauses as she nods, “But whatever may or may not have been there with me and Jacinda isn’t there now,” Ivy looks up at the man in front of her, a tiny smile, barley noticeable, on her face. “I’m going on a date with you Ivy, I like you,” Ivy sucks in a breath. “Okay?”

“Okay,” she says, not able to stop a smile from covering her face, a smile that Henry mirrors. “So, where are we going?”

“I thought we’d have a classic picnic,” he replies lifting up the picnic basket and blanket in his hands. 

“How did I not notice that?” Ivy laughs, starting to walk to the door. “Where are we going for the picnic?”

“The park obviously, where else would you have a picnic here?” They both laugh.

“In that case, after you Henry Mills,” She holds the door open for him to walk out of, then locks it after following him out. 

~~~

“Okay, so this food is amazing,” Henry smiles as the womans comment, his mouth full of food. “Did you buy this stuff or make it?”

“I made it all,” she raises her eyebrows at him, questioning his answer. “I did! I told you, I wanted the date to be special, and a traditional picnic means homemade food.”

“Alright, I trust you.”

“Good, I’m glad you’re enjoying.”

After a few minutes of comfortable silence, where they ate and smiled happily at each other, Ivy speaks again. “Henry,” she pauses briefly as he looks back up from the muffin he just finished, “Why did you ask me on this date? Why now?” 

He watches her briefly, before replying. “Ivy, there’s something between us, at least I think there is. And by the fact you said yes to this date makes me think that you think there is too.” He pauses briefly before carrying on, “By some odd type of luck a girl showed up on my doorstep and brought me here, and for some reason I chose to stay. I got to know people here, got to fall in love with the place and the people. Of all the people I’ve grown to love here, you Ivy, you’re different. We have a connection, don’t we?” 

He pauses again, giving her a small smile, “I know that you’re different with me than you are with other people. You’re - uh, you’re more human with me I guess.” He lets out a nervous laugh, “More natural, you don’t act as super tough with me as you do with others.” She gives him a small smile. 

“I always trusted you, without even thinking about it.” Ivy replies, and they smile at each other. “The rolls may have been good henry but I think the muffins might be a tiny bit dry,” a smirk sits on her face.

“They’re perfect and you know it,” he states confidently, playfully. Ivy rolls her eyes then they both laugh. “Well, I guess we should carry on with our day then,” Henry suggests while looking at the now empty picnic basket, an element of sadness in his voice. 

Ivy gives a small, slightly sad, smile, “Yeah, you have any plans for the day?” Henry shakes his head. “Well I’m sure you didn’t write a whole book of the badass character that is Drizella in one night.”

Henry laughs slightly, “Not quite, but I do have a brief outline of her story.”

Ivy encourages him to continue, “Oh?”

“Yeah, I just can’t decide if it should be the same type of thing as my first book, like a sequel. Or if it should be just set in the real world, without fairytales and curses.”

“Well, your book stands out because of the mix of real world, fairytales and curses. You could try something new but then it could just blend in with the other books.”

“I do like writing the fairytale, real world and curses stories,” he pauses briefly, a smile on his face. “Honestly that world is kinda like another home to me,” he smiles at the woman sitting opposite him, “Is that sad?” He laughs slightly. 

“No Henry,” Ivy replies in a serious tone, “I think it’s lovely.” She briefly paused, watching him, “The world you created is another home to a lot of people, it’s a safe place. If you decide to carry on writing in that world then you’ll just be adding to peoples home, giving them another story to lose themselves in.” 

“Well when you put it like that, I think the character is better suited to a life of fairytales anyway.” He smiles. “What are you planning on doing for the rest of the day while I stare at a computer screen?”

“Honestly? I’m planning on doing absolutely nothing,” she sighs. “I need a break, a lot has happened to me recently.” 

“Well, if you need company while you do nothing you can always come to mine. I’ll just be at my desk anyway, we don’t even have to talk. I’ll just bring you food and drink and you can lay there and watch TV or sit in complete silence while I write.”

“Is it strange that that actually sounds nice?” Ivy laughs a little.

“A bit, but I’m not judging,” he smiles at the shorter woman, “Lets go.” Ivy nods, they both get up from their places and start to head to Henrys.

As they walk, side by side, their hands gently brush each others, barely touching but enough for them both to feel sparks. Neither of them try to fully close the gap and hold the others hand, although both consider it, neither want to be too forward.

Thursday

Ivy gently rubs her eyes as she begins to wake up. “Hey, morning Ivy,” a mans voice causes her to fully open her eyes and begin to sit up. 

“Henry?” She questions, finally her eyes start to focus and she see the man holding out a mug, which she assumes has coffee in it. “What time is it?” She asks as she briefly takes in her surroundings and last night becomes clearer. She’s on Henrys couch, a light blanket was placed over her and when she looks to where her head just was, she sees a pillow had been placed under her head at some point. 

She gratefully takes the mug from Henry as he sits down on the chair opposite her, “It’s just after ten, you slept for a while.”

Ivy’s eyes widen, “It’s gone 10am? I never sleep that late.” 

“You must have needed it, I kept offering you the bed as you were falling asleep but your reply was just ‘I’m not falling asleep I’m just resting.’ But here we are, eleven hours later and you just woke up,” Henry laughs playfully at her as Ivy gently rubs her forehead, a little out of embarrassment. 

“Sorry, Henry, you should have sent me home.”

“I wasn’t going to do that, you looked way to peaceful there. Besides, it was nice having someone else here, when I got a bit stuck writing I just looked over to you and it’s as if the story just came right from you.” Henry gives her the sweetest smile, and she can’t help but return it.

“Did you manage to write much?” She questions, taking a few more sips of the coffee he had made her. It was the best coffee she’s ever had, but she new it was the same one she had at home, him making it just made it better.

“A lot more than I thought I would, I’ve had very little sleep,” he laughs. 

“Henry, sleeping is important!” Ivy replies, but with a smile on her face. He’d stay up all night writing about her, sort of.

“I know, but when inspiration hits you have to write it down, you never know when it’ll strike again.” He shrugs, then smiles at the woman. “I don’t think I would have had as much inspiration if you weren’t here.” He grins at her, and to spite herself she looks to her lap to stop him from seeing her blush. “So thanks for falling asleep on my couch.” They both laugh. 

“Well I should go,” Ivy states after a few minutes of comfortable quiet as they both let the coffee sink into their system and wake them up. 

“You don’t, have to,” Henry replies as she puts her shoes on and gets up. 

“I do,” Ivy smiles, she really doesn’t want to go. “You need to sleep, for a while.” She smiles and picks up her bag before heading to the door. 

“Meet me at Roni’s later?” He asks just as shes about to step out of the door. “Eight o’clock?”

“See you then,” she grins, “Now go to bed Henry!” She orders jokenly, making them both laugh as she closes the door behind her. 

~~~

“Hey Ivy,” Roni greets as the young woman sits on the bar stool in front of her.

“Hey, any luck yet?” Ivy asks, placing her bag on the stool next to her, saving it for Henry. The older woman lets out a sigh, that’s all Ivy needs as an answer. “There’s no other way is there?”

“Not that I can find,” the woman shakes her head. “But breaking the curse with only that bottle as a possible cure is risky. We don’t even know what’s in that.” Ivy nods, agreeing with what Roni is saying.

“Is there a way to find out? Can you take some from the bottle and reverse engineer it or something?”

“I could try, but we have such a small amount, and Henry might need it all for it to work.” Ivy nods before throwing her head down into her hands.

“How could I do this to him in the first place?” The young witch asks herself more than anyone else. “I’m the worst.”

“Ivy,” Roni starts gently, “It’s okay.” Ivy looks up slightly, slowly. “Look, what you did was awful, and I hate that you did that to my son,” Roni has an odd mix of sterness and softness across her face and in her voice, “but you had been through a lot, and you were being manipulated. You made a mistake Ivy, and truthfully, I can’t judge you or hate you for that. I’ve made more than my fair share of mistakes in the past, but you’re trying to fix it and be a better person. That’s what’s important now.” 

“Thank you Roni,” Ivy says gratefully, her head now fully out of her hands.

“You’re welcome,” she gives her a small smile. “Now tell me, is he in love with you yet?”

Ivy’s smile widens, “I honestly have no idea. I know that I’m more in love with him than I was before. He took me on a picnic, with food he actually made himself and hadn’t just brought. Last night I fell asleep on his couch and he put a pillow under my head and a blanket over me, it’s just all so,” she struggles to think of just one word.

“What can I say, me and Emma raised him right.” Roni smiles, she was proud that Henry was such a gentleman. 

“You really did.”

“You want the usual?” Roni asks after a short silence. 

“Yeah, two please,” Ivy requests as she checks the time. “Henry should be here any min-”

“Hey you two,” his voice comes from beside her, causing her to smile and move her bag for him to sit down.

“Hey, you sleep at all?” Ivy questions as he takes the seat.

“I got a few hours, but then I woke up and had more ideas and had to get them down.”

“You’re going to pass out from exhaustion at some point,” Ivy states as Roni places the two drinks in front of them.

“I’m glad the story is going well Henry,” Roni congratulates with a bright smile on her face, “Finally beaten writers block for good?”

“Well I can hope so,” he nods. “I’m just excited about the character, the story is writing itself.” He smiles at both women who are smiling back at him. 

Roni leaves to serve other customers and clean, leaving the two to talk for the rest of the night.

Friday

Weaver, Roni and Ivy are all sitting around a table at Roni’s, the place is open but it’s early afternoon and is empty, meaning they can talk without having to be too careful.

“I have nothing,” Weaver says honestly, earning a sad and disappointed sigh from the women. “From that response I assume you don’t either,” he directs at Roni, who shakes her head. “Okay, so that bottle is it. It’s all we’ve got, I believe it’s the cure. So let’s do it.”

“We can’t just say ‘lets do it’, he has to be in love with me, and kiss me and for it to be true love for the curse to break and then for us to use this.” Ivy replies holding the bottle between two of her fingers. 

This whole situation was stressing her out. What if they were wrong and this wasn’t the cure but Henry is in love with her and they kiss and it breaks the curse but then he dies because this bottle isn’t the cure. Ivy sighs after finishing that thought very quickly in her head. She was exhausted from all of this. 

“He’s in love with you,” the two older people at the table state in unison. 

Ivy’s eyes widen in confusion and surprise, “How could you possibly know that?” 

“Have you not seen the way he looks at you?” Weaver asks in his matter-of-fact and ‘you’re stupid for not knowing this’ voice. 

“He’s right, I was watching you both last night. I know my son, he’s in love with you now, I don’t know what you’ve done over that past few days but its made him fall hard and quickly.” Ivy bites her lip, a little anxious. “And last night you got a lot closer, and I mean that literally. By the time you town left there was zero space between the two stools you were on.” Ivy holds in a laugh. 

“You really think he’s in love with me?” She asks in a small voice.

“Yes,” they both answer.

“So when you guys kiss you need to be ready Ivy.” Roni adds, Ivy nods and takes a deep breath. 

She’s going to kiss Henry. She’s going to break the curse. She’s going to save his life. He’s going to hate her.

~~~

“Hey,” Ivy starts as she walks up to henry who’s sitting on a bench near Ronis, “How’s your day been?” He smiles as she sits down next to her. They’d arranged to meet here tonight, it was a nice day and it seemed a shame not to enjoy the warm evening for a bit before getting a drink.

“Really good, I’ve been writing all day, until I left to come meet you.”

“Oh, Henry you could have just cancelled, I don’t want to get in the way of your writing.”

“No, no. You could never get in the way of my writing. You actually help it,” he confesses, turning his body completely to her. “The more time I spend with you, the more I get to know you, the more this character really comes to life, you know? I know we made jokes about the character being based on you, and she is, but it’s as if the character is you. And by spending more time with you I get more of the character.”

“Henry I-”

“I like you.” Henry states simply. “I know that I’ve said it before, and I will say it a thousand more times. I’ve never been this forward with a woman before, but with you, everything is different. We’ve got something special, haven’t we?” 

He takes a pause, and a breath, but not one long enough for Ivy to interrupt. “I feel myself when I’m around you, I’ve felt comfortable with you from the beginning, even when others told me I shouldn’t, and tried to warn me away from you. We have fun, and laugh. I haven’t laughed so much in a long time. You make me feel like myself Ivy, and happy. I’m so happy when I’m with you. These drinks at night are the parts of my day that I look forward to the most.”

He looks her directly in her eyes, which have tears building up in them, which she tries to blink away. But he can tell they’re not sad tears, he can tell she feels the same. “Look, I know we’ve only been on one official date, but we have spent so many nights in Roni’s.” Henry isn’t exactly sure what has brought on this big confession from him. But just seeing her tonight, it was like the final push, because just seeing her as she walked towards him, it made his heart flutter, and a smile form on his face from ear to ear. 

“It might seem a bit early to say this, and I don’t want to scare you off or anything, but I’m really hoping you feel the same.” He continues, “I love you Ivy.”

“I love you too,” a tear falls from Ivy’s eyes. Henry smiles brightly, and as they look each other in the eyes they slowly start to lean in. Just as their lips are a couple millimeters apart Ivy whispers, “Henry, I’m sorry for everything, please forgive me.” They close the gap. 

As if everyone in her bar has just been struck Roni notices them all looking around at each other, trying to figure out where they are. Calling each other by their real names, their non-curse names. “They’ve kissed,” Roni says with a smile, before realisation quickly hits her and she runs out of her bar to find them. It takes her seconds when she leaves the building to see Henry and Ivy on a bench, a few meters away. Henry’s head is falling over the back of the bench, tears are running down Ivy’s face as she tries to open the bottle.

“IVY!” Roni shouts, running to her. Just as she reaches the pair Ivy manages to get the bottle open and tips the contents down the boys throat. “Come on Henry,” his mum pleads, holding one of his hands tightly, and reaching the other out to Ivy, who gratefully takes it while her other hand now rests on Henry’s face. 

They’re both crying as Weaver comes running over, followed closely by Rodgers. “HENRY!” They both shout. 

It feels like a lifetime is passing as they wait for him to wake up. “Henry please, I can’t lose you. Please don’t die,” Ivy begs, kissing him gently on his cheek. Weaver places a supportive hand on Roni’s shoulder, as Rodgers does the same for Ivy. 

Henry’s head springs back up, his whole upper half of his body falling forward. “Mom?” He asks as he sees Roni. She nods and pulls him into a tight, very tight hug.

“You’re okay,” she whispers into his ear, “You’re okay.”

Rodgers, Weaver and Ivy all breathe a sigh of relief. Ivy is just relieved the bottle did have a cure in, and that he’s alive, unconcerned in that moment about how he will feel towards her. 

Tears still stream down Ivy’s and Roni’s faces, but now tears of happiness and relief. 

Henry turns towards the younger crying woman, “Drizella,” he lets out a long breath. Roni, Weaver and Rodgers all stepping back a little, wanting to give the two space, but not willing to go too far. 

She doesn’t give him a chance to speak, “Henry I’m so sorry. I wish I had never done it, I didn’t know what I was doing and I-” He crushes her lips with his own to make her stop talking. It takes a second but she returns the kiss, more tears rolling down her cheeks. They pull away, “You don’t hate me?” She asks in a small voice after a minute. 

“No, of course I don’t.” He gives her a small smile. “Obviously I’m not exactly thrilled at the whole curse and nearly killing me thing, but it was a mistake. And clearly you tried to fix it, and you did. I’m not going to hold it against you, we all make mistakes. Everyone else's seem to be bigger than mine,” he says cheekily, looking to Roni and Weaver, who roll their eyes but then give an accepting nod and quiet laugh. “But we all make them.”

“I’m so sorry Henry,” she repeats, accepting what he says, but never being able to apologise enough for what she did. 

“I know,” he nods. 

Weaver, Roni and Rodgers all watch the pair with smiles on their faces. 

“I love you Henry,” her voice barely above a whisper. 

“I love you Drizella,” he leans in and kisses her again, longer than the last one, but still not long enough. She knows they’ve technically already said it, but him saying it now, now that he remembers everything, well it felt like the first time all other again. 

“It’s always nice to have a happy ending,” Weaver says as the pair come out of their kiss. 

“Yeah,” Henry replies. “I love a happy ending.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed! Sorry it’s posted so late, took a while to do. (Side note- nothing could be more perfect than the kiss in the show that broke the curse)


End file.
